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VHS, VCDs, and Laserdiscs in Southeast Asia

(rubenerd.com)
92 points mikece | 2 comments | 11 Jul 25 16:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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2muchcoffeeman ◴[15 Jul 25 12:11 UTC] No.44570326[source]▶
You can buy a vhs cleaner that accepts some alcohol and then fast forwards and rewinds through the tape. The alcohol would soak into a sponge bit and wipe the tape.

At least this is my recollection.

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ssl-3 ◴[15 Jul 25 16:23 UTC] No.44572819[source]▶
Memory partially valid.

An important part of using a head cleaning tape was to use play mode, not FF or RW. Only play (or record) modes would have the tape wrapped around the head while FF/RW would disengage the tape completely from the head. This is done to save head wear, and to help prevent magnetizing the head.

(Except on examples like this weird, late-model Sony deck I have: On it, the tape is always engaged with the head from the time it is inserted to the time it is ejected. And the head itself is "self-cleaning.")

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Brian_K_White ◴[16 Jul 25 02:22 UTC] No.44578073[source]▶
They are talking about a winder that cleans a tape, not a tape that cleans a player.
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1. ssl-3 ◴[16 Jul 25 16:00 UTC] No.44583756[source]▶
I guess I see that now. I didn't have any idea that such a thing existed.

Why would someone want to clean a VHS tape? It's full of data, and it's deliberately lubricated.

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2. Brian_K_White ◴[17 Jul 25 04:33 UTC] No.44589728[source]▶
The same reason you may need to clean anything. A tape may get dirty any number of ways. It's a physical object that can get dust and dirt inside if it's ever exposed to a dirty environment. And you don't want to put a dirty tape into a player.